Where are the royal jewels kept?

More openness may appear in the work of Gokhran, one of the most “closed” government agencies.

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Read us in Moscow Kremlin. Grand Kremlin Palace, Armory Chamber and Borovitskaya Tower Photo: Valeria Popova/Lori Photobank The work of Gokhran, one of the most “closed” government agencies, may become more open. If the government bill is passed.

What is Gokhran?

This organization has another name: Federal State Institution “State institution for the formation of the State Fund of Precious Metals and Precious Stones of the Russian Federation, storage, release and use of precious metals and precious stones under the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation.” From this alone it should be clear that the main goals of the institution’s activities are the formation of the State Fund of Russia with various items of particular value, as well as their storage, accounting and safety. In accordance with the Gokhran Charter, such valuables include precious metals – gold, silver, platinum group metals, precious stones – natural diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, alexandrites, natural pearls and unique amber formations equated to precious stones, products made of precious metals and precious stones. This collection of unique works of art and everything that our country is rich in has been created over centuries. Even Emperor Peter I in December 1719 determined the state form of storage of valuables belonging to Russia. He created the Chamber Collegium, the regulations (charter) of which provided a complete list of valuables and indicated the order of their storage in a specially organized room – the Royal Renterium (as the treasury was called in the old days). It became the basis of the State Fund of Precious Metals and Precious Stones of Russia. Any items from the Royal Renteria could be received only by personal order of the emperor. Three close courtiers had access to them, each of whom had his own key to one of the three locks. A fragment of the showcase of the “Diamond Fund” exhibition, demonstrating the variety of diamond cutting shapes. Photo: Gokhran of Russia The collection of especially significant valuables was actively replenished throughout the subsequent centuries. Each of the Russian emperors or empresses who headed the state formed their own jewelry collection, part of which was bequeathed to the state, thus changing the legal status of precious items, the values ​​​​no longer became personal, but crown – inalienable state property, the head of Gokhran told us Russia Andrey Yurin. In 1914, after the outbreak of the First World War, the valuables were transported away from the combat zone – from St. Petersburg to the Moscow Kremlin. And in 1920, by decree of the Council of People’s Commissars, the State Repository of Narkomfin Valuables was created for “centralization, storage and accounting of all valuables belonging to the RSFSR.” Soviet institutions and officials were obliged to hand over to Gokhran within a three-month period all the valuables made of gold, platinum, colored precious stones and pearls that they had in storage, management, alteration or registration. All valuables newly received by institutions were to be handed over to Gokhran immediately. Subsequently, the fate of state values ​​​​developed in accordance with the conclusions of the commission, which included leading specialists from the Hermitage, the Historical Museum, the Academy of Sciences, the Armory Chamber, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Gokhran Narkomfin. In 1941, at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Diamond Fund and other valuables of the State Fund, which included the entire gold reserve of the USSR, were taken out of the capital; they returned to Moscow only in 1943. Gokhran at that time not only preserved the valuables, but also ensured the replenishment of the State Fund. Already in the fifties of the last century, diamonds from the primary deposits of Yakutia began to abundantly enter the Gokhran treasury, which significantly expanded the range of tasks facing this institution. It was here, at Gokhran, that experimental work was carried out on the rational use of diamonds and the development of modern saving methods for their processing. At the same time, the Diamond Fund was replenished with new exhibits, a significant part of which were large registered domestic rough and polished diamonds, as well as unique jewelry in the style of Russian national traditions. Imperial coronation regalia. Small imperial crown, orb, large imperial crown, scepter with the Orlov diamond. Exhibited at the Diamond Fund exhibition. Photo: Gokhran of Russia In its modern form, the Gokhran of Russia was created by a decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of November 21, 1996, having received for storage the values ​​of the State Fund, the main manager of which is the President of Russia.

The government proposes

On November 2, 2019, the Cabinet of Ministers sent to the State Duma a draft federal law “On Amendments to Article 6 of the Federal Law “On Precious Metals and Precious Stones.” The sixth article of the current legal act significantly limited the activities of Gokhran, allowing for the possibility of placing valuables in its custody exclusively on sites that are federal property. As the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Natural Resources, Property and Land Relations explained to us Nikolay Nikolaev, the government bill proposes to expand these boundaries. “It provides that the valuables of the State Fund of Precious Metals and Precious Stones of the Russian Federation can be placed not only in office and industrial buildings, structures and premises that are in federal ownership, but also in premises of other forms of ownership, provided that such facilities are equipped with engineering -technical means of protection and safety that ensure the safety of these values,” the deputy said. According to Nikolai Nikolaev, this will make it possible to store and use samples of precious stones necessary for their identification when exercising state control on areas leased by the Gokhran of Russia that are not federal property. And this will significantly reduce budget costs for periodic transportation, insurance and protection of the valuables of the State Fund of Russia. Nugget “Camel”. Found in Kolyma, 1946. Dimensions 298,5 x 15,0 x 5,0. Weight 9 g. Exhibited at the Diamond Fund exhibition. Photo: Gokhran of Russia And, in addition, the Regulations on the use of values ​​of the State Fund of Precious Metals and Precious Stones of the Russian Federation for the purposes of exhibiting or scientific study on the territory of the Russian Federation, approved by a government decree back in January 2011, will receive a legal basis, which already provided for the possibility of using the values ​​of the State Fund of Russia in museums and cultural organizations, the premises of which are equipped with engineering and technical means of protection and safety that ensure the safety of these values, and are in various forms of ownership. The head of Gokhran, Andrey Yurin, also supports the Government’s proposal. “Amendments to Article 6 of the Federal Law “On Precious Metals and Precious Stones” are relevant for our institution,” he believes, “and are due to the fact that the current legislation does not cover all cases of use of premises necessary to support the activities of the Gokhran of Russia. For example, these are exhibitions held in museums and exhibition halls of cities of the Russian Federation, or the use of samples of precious stones to carry out state control when crossing the Russian border. The proposed amendments are not fundamental changes and, in fact, clarify certain provisions of the law.” The clarification is not the first and not the last in this area. “Over the past five years, with the participation and initiative of the Gokhran of Russia, three federal laws, two decrees of the head of state, more than 20 resolutions of the Russian Government and over 50 orders of the Ministry of Finance of Russia have been adopted,” noted Andrey Yurin. Work to improve legislation will continue as part of the implementation of the requirements of the “regulatory guillotine”. Order of St. Catherine, 2017st class. Added to the collection of the State Fund of Precious Metals and Precious Metals in XNUMX. Exhibited at the Diamond Fund exhibition. Photo: Gokhran of Russia

Belongs to Russia

So what kind of treasures lie in the Gokhran storerooms? Are any artifacts from the first collections preserved and where can they be seen? At the Diamond Fund exhibition, which is the most famous part of the State Fund of Russia, Andrei Yurin answers our questions. There is a complex of imperial coronation regalia on display. This is the Great Imperial Crown, made in 1762 for the coronation of Catherine II, an orb with an almost 200-carat sapphire, a scepter created in the 1770s with a unique Orlov diamond – one of the most famous diamonds in the world. In addition, exquisite jewelry made by court jewelers of the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries that belonged to imperial persons has been preserved. All these products always delight visitors. But the entire collection of the Diamond Fund of Russia is unique. This is the largest collection of valuables on a par with the collection of royal jewels of Great Britain and the national collection of jewels of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The objects presented at the exhibition are world famous and have exceptional historical, cultural and artistic value. In addition to the coronation regalia, a collection of historical stones is presented, including the Shah diamond, found at the end of the 1829th century in India. In XNUMX, the diamond was brought to Nicholas I by Prince Khosrev-Mirza as a ransom “in atonement” for the murder in Tehran of the head of the Russian diplomatic mission and the famous Russian poet Alexander Griboedov. Device for a punch. Added to the collection of the State Fund of Precious Metals and Precious Stones in 2017. Exhibited at the Diamond Fund exhibition. Photo: Gokhran of Russia A separate section of the exhibition presents the wealth of Russian mineral resources – large registered natural diamonds, unusually shaped nuggets of gold and platinum. This section is constantly updated with new acquisitions. Thus, in 2017, AK ALROSA (PJSC) donated the Ivan Turgenev diamond of rare purity; in 2018, a unique Yakut gold nugget was added to the Diamond Fund. In general, 2017 became a landmark year for the State Fund of Russia, notes Andrey Yurin. For the first time after a long break, the Government of the Russian Federation decided to replenish the Diamond Fund’s collection with outstanding historical items and jewelry works by domestic craftsmen. The collection includes world-class historical items – the Order of St. Catherine, 12st degree, awarded to the Serbian princess Elena Petrovna by Nicholas II, and a cabinet bracelet with a portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna. Also returned to Russia was the work of master stone cutter Vasily Vasilyevich Konovalenko – a device for a shot glass, consisting of a shot glass bowl, a “pouring ladle” and XNUMX “ladles” cups. In 2018, the collection of the State Fund of Russia was replenished with two works by the Russian jewelry company Sazikov – a jug from 1856 and a cup from the 1850s. And at the end of the same year, an unusual addition occurred – a treasure of one hundred and forty-six gold coins of the Russian Empire from the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, found by Muscovites in an apartment that had belonged to their family for four generations. The State Fund of Russia is constantly replenished with precious metal bars, precious stones with high-quality characteristics, and nuggets, Andrey Yurin emphasized.

How much does all this cost?

It turned out that answering this question is very difficult. And the point here, apparently, is not even a matter of top secrecy, but how the situation on the market for rough diamonds or precious metals is constantly changing. For example, with regard to precious metals, the head of Gokhran said, their value has been steadily growing in the long term. Since 2001, the dollar value of an ounce of gold has risen more than 400 percent, from $271 to $1475. In 2019, palladium became the most expensive metal – $1850 per ounce. The price of silver in dollars has tripled since 2001. If we add to this the changed dollar exchange rate, investing in precious metals turns out to be profitable. And with regard to the cost of artistic products, the situation is even more complicated. Even if we set the task of valuing all the precious stones and precious metals from which works of jewelry were created, and recalculating them at the current exchange rate—and there are almost five thousand diamonds in the Great Imperial Crown alone—it is still impossible to estimate the value of the work of great masters. How to measure the value of historical events witnessed by the treasures of Russian emperors? 15696 Receive one of the most read articles by email once a day. Join us on Facebook and VKontakte. You can unsubscribe at any time. Imperial Jewels of the Diamond Fund of Russia The luxury and radiance of the Diamond Fund’s exhibits is simply off the charts. Despite the fact that many of the jewels were sold at auction by the Bolsheviks, this museum has something to be proud of. Armory Chamber in Moscow The Diamond Fund is located in the building of the Armory Chamber and occupies two halls there.
Peter I can rightfully be considered its founder. It was he who, in 1719, collected all the jewelry for storage in one of the rooms. In the mid-18th century they were moved to the Winter Palace, to the Diamond Room.
But the war began, and in the summer of 2014 the collection was urgently evacuated to Moscow. They were brought in eight chests without any inventory or transfer certificates. They were also accepted without verification. For almost eight years they lay in the basements of the Kremlin, piled high with other cargo. It was only in 1922 that the chests of jewelry were transferred to Gokhran, where they began disassembling and censusing them. And, from 1926 to 1938, on the personal instructions of Lenin and the Soviet government, a lot of jewelry was sold at auctions in Europe and New York. But then they stopped. Commission for the selection of products for sale at Christie’s auction in London in 1927. Lots for sale

“Seven Wonders of the Diamond Fund”

Diamond “Orlov” An amazingly transparent diamond of 189 carats, iridescent greenish and blue. The largest and most valuable diamond in the collection. It has 180 facets and is shaped like an Indian rose. Initially, the diamond was in India, but as a result of a series of kidnappings and sales it ended up with Count Orlov. And he, in turn, gave it to Catherine II. This is the second most valuable diamond in the collection, also distinguished by perfect transparency, weighing 88 carats. Found in India, it has almost retained its original shape, with only a few edges slightly adjusted. On this diamond, inscriptions written in Persian are clearly visible – these are the names of its three previous owners. In 1824, for the purpose of reconciliation, this magnificent diamond was brought as a gift to Nicholas I after the brutal reprisal in Tehran of Alexander Griboyedov, our ambassador, diplomat and famous writer. Portrait diamond One of the largest, so-called portrait diamonds. It has a flat shape and an area of ​​7.5 square centimeters. And since this diamond is also completely transparent, it can be used as a portrait diamond, which, in fact, was done – a portrait of the emperor was placed under it. giant spinel The weight of this magnificent, incredibly transparent gem is 399 carats. It is he who adorns the Russian Great Imperial Crown. Emerald inlaid into a brooch Emerald inlaid into a brooch It is also one of the most famous and valuable stones, weighing 136 carats. It has a very beautiful rich color and step cut. It looks very beautiful framed with diamonds and silver grape leaves. Ceylon sapphire Legendary, the world’s largest faceted sapphire at 260 carats. Its upper surface has more than a hundred edges. Alexander II purchased this beautiful stone in an openwork frame, emphasizing its beauty, in 1862 in London for his wife. A completely unique stone weighing 192.6 carats, incredibly transparent, with a magnificent cut.

Symbols of autocracy

In addition to these unique diamonds, the museum has other exclusive exhibits and, first of all, these are the main regalia of royal power. Symbols of autocracy Imperial scepter – gold, Orlov diamond, other diamonds, silver, enamel. Scepter length – 59,5 cm. Early 1770s The scepter with a double-headed eagle on top was made for Catherine II. Since 1774, it has been decorated with the luxurious Orlov diamond, presented by the Count to his Empress. Imperial power 1762 Gold, diamonds, sapphire (200 carats), diamond (46,92 carats), silver
Height with cross 24 cm Ball circumference 48 cm The orb, otherwise called the “Royal Apple,” is a creation of the jeweler Eckart, made for the coronation of Catherine II. Already under Emperor Paul I, it was additionally decorated with a magnificent sapphire and diamond. Sapphire from the scepter Great Crown of the Russian Empire Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire 1762 This crown, rightfully considered the most beautiful and expensive in the world, is the creation of court jewelers Georg-Friedrich Eckart and Jeremiah Pozier. It was also created on behalf of Catherine II for her coronation in 1762 in record time – just two months. After the revolution, this main symbol of the Russian Empire was in Ireland for about 30 years; the crown was transferred there as collateral for the financial assistance provided. They were able to buy this masterpiece only in 1950, when the crown returned to Moscow. V. Borovikovsky. “Paul I wearing the crown, dalmatic and insignia of the Order of Malta.” 1820 (?)

Other museum exhibits

Small Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire Small Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire Diamonds, silver. Height with cross 13 cm Previously, it was assumed that it was made for Elizaveta Alekseevna by the Duval brothers. Now they believe that the crown was created by the jeweler Zeftigen for Maria Alexandrovna. Crown of Empress Anna Ioannovna Crown of the Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna 1730-1731 A magnificent crown, sparkling with two and a half thousand precious stones inlaid into its silver frame. Dark red tourmaline taken from the crown of Catherine I was also used as decoration. Heinrich Buchholz (1735-1781. Portrait of Empress Anna Ioannovna Diamond diadem of Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna This tiara, decorated with a pink diamond, is from the wedding set of the Grand Duchesses of the House of Romanov. Diamond diadem of Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna, wife of Emperor Alexander I Gold, silver, pink diamond, small diamonds, 1810 Large agraf buckle and earrings Large agraf buckle and earrings, 1750s. Master I. Pozier Presumably its author is Pozier. At first they belonged to Catherine II. Cherry earrings were also later included in the wedding set of brides of the Romanov house. Cherry earrings on Maria Pavlovna, daughter of Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, granddaughter of Alexander II. 1908. Bracelet with a portrait of Emperor Alexander I Bracelet with a portrait of Emperor Alexander I The portrait of the emperor is not enclosed under glass; it is covered with an extraordinary diamond of rare purity. Badges of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called An oblique cross with the image of the crucified St. Andrey Eight pointed star Portrait of Count Grigory Grigorievich Kushelev with children. 1801 Decoration of the order’s hat One of the badges of the Order of St. Catherine. Decoration of an order’s hat Diamonds, rubies, gold, silver 8,5 x 8,5 cm Late XNUMXth century Order of the Golden Fleece Order of the Golden Fleece Gold, diamonds, silver, topazes 6,2 x 6,2 cm Mid-XNUMXth century This ancient and honorable order was established back in 1429. They were awarded only to representatives of the most ancient noble families. Medallion with emerald Medallion with emerald Gold, silver, 250 carat emerald, diamonds Mid-XNUMXth century Large bouquet Diamonds, emeralds, gold, silver 16 x 21 cm Around 1760 Large bouquet and small Diamonds, emeralds, gold, silver 16 x 21 cm Around 1760 A magnificent precious bouquet, striking in the variety of color shades of the stones used, one can feel the hand of a great master. Belonged to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Bandeau tiara and earrings Bandeau tiara and earrings. Diamonds, gold, silver, enamel 1750s Bouquet of daffodils Diamonds, gold, silver, enamel 18,8 x 8,5 cm Second half of the XNUMXth century. Egret – decoration for hair or hat Egret is a decoration for a hairstyle or hat. 1750s A very unusual decoration, which is a fountain of diamond jets, at the ends of which droplets of sapphires are freely suspended. At the slightest movement, dark blue lights flash inside the sapphires, casting their blue shadows on the sparkling diamonds. Portbouquet. Diamonds, gold, silver, enamel 13,5 x 8 cm Circa 1770 This decoration was pinned on the dress as a miniature vase into which a small bouquet of fresh flowers was inserted. Pink tourmaline. Gold, enamel 4 x 2,7 x 2,3 cm The rare beauty of the stone was presented to Catherine II by King Gustav III of Sweden during his visit to Russia in 1777. For a long time it was believed that this was a ruby. Its engraving in the form of a bunch of grapes is very unusual. Parure “Bow-slavage” of Empress Catherine II Slavage bow and earrings of Empress Catherine II. Silver, diamonds, spinels, gold
11,5×11 cm. 1764. Master Leopold Pfisterer A sklavage is a small necklace worn on a wide ribbon of lace or velvet. Although in fact the necklace is quite massive, it looks very light and openwork. Did you like the article? Then support us click: